State officials have given up on trying to salvage a portion of the troubled Cover Oregon technology project, essentially abandoning all hope of getting any lasting benefit from the $240 million paid Oracle America on the health insurance exchange and related work.

Instead, Oregon will look to use successful technology built by another state, and is trying to determine which one.

The state had been planning to use salvaged Oracle technology for enrollment in the Oregon Health Plan, but has now halted that effort. Officials cite problems with the company's products as well as what they characterize as lack of cooperation from the software giant -- which state officials have blamed for the debacle and subsequently sued.

The move "allows us to cut ties with Oracle cleanly," said Tina Edlund, the aide to Gov. John Kitzhaber who is overseeing the effort to prepare for the open enrollment period that begins Nov. 15.

She said the change won't affect open enrollment this year. Most consumers will still be processed by healthcare.gov, the federal website, following the decision to use it in place of the Cover Oregon technology. Officials say consumers should first check oregonhealthcare.gov if they have a special circumstance such as pregnancy or a disability, or if they are not sure if they might qualify for Medicaid.

For next year, the state hopes to use Medicaid enrollment technology developed by another state that is yet to be determined. The technology will allow a self-service enrollment website as required by the federal government.

Until July, some state officials had hoped to use the Medicaid rescue work as a springboard to again try to set up a state-based exchange. That's because the Medicaid enrollment project would provide a great deal of the functionality needed for a state-based exchange.

Some officials still hope to keep the door open for a state-based exchange, which would give the state greater control as well as flexibility to accommodate Oregon insurers and consumers. Having a functioning Medicaid technology would presumably assist with that goal, officials have said in the past.

But now they say it's too soon to tell. "I can't speak to that," Edlund said.

So far the transition project has paid Deloitte $6 million. Officials said Maryland's decision to use Connecticut technology to set up a state-based exchange -- which included Medicaid -- cost $30 million. Though any code developed using federal funding is free to other states, adapting it is not, which is explains Maryland's project costs.

Prompting the decision to drop Oracle were two new obstacles, said Sarah Miller, a state technology official. First, crucial details of the state's plans to retrieve needed hardware from Oracle facilities in Texas and Utah were not approved by Oracle. Second, a new review of future use of the Oracle technology found that it would not be a good fit for other state technology.

The state's decision to halt the use of Oracle technology may well undermine Oracle's legal position. The firm and Oregon have filed dueling lawsuits in federal and state court.

Oracle has filed a copyright infringement claim based on Oregon's plan to keep using Oracle technology, and argued that copyright cases must be argued in federal court. The state's lawyers would prefer to keep the case in state court, and the decision to stop using Oracle technology could strengthen their hand.